Today Canon announced the Canon EOS 550D. You can read the press release here.
Specifications
Spec-wise the T2i almost identically matches the 7D’s video specs.
- 18 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
- Full 1080p Video Recording
- 24, 25 30 and 50 (720p), 60 (720p) Frame Rates
- ISO 100-6400 (Expansion to 12800)
- 3.0 Screen
- External Microphone socket
- Movie crop function
Read the press release and a pre-production review here.
Build Quality
One factor that really stands out is looking at the design and build of the T2i. Look at the back of the camera there is a noticeable difference from the other HDSLRs. The biggest is the buttons. Canon has removed the scroll wheel and inserted buttons. The second big difference in the material of the body. More plastic and less mag-alloy material.
Incredible Possibilities (Most important)
While this camera is not perfect (None is), it has an incredible potential. First of all $800 bucks are you kidding me! If you have been griping about this camera because you already own a 7D (me included), shut up and by one! If you already have a HDSLR this makes a perfect B camera. and if you don’t have a HDSLR what are you waiting for!?
This is the perfect interview/documentary tool. for the price of 1 5D you could pick up 3 550D’s! If one overheats grab one of the others. Its a no brainer! I would highly recommend you go over to Prolost and read Stu Maschwitz’s The Revenge of no excuses post. Stu makes a lot of good points on this camera and its impact.
Finally this is great news for indie filmmakers. To be able to shoot video at this quality for such a low price is great. Sure we will be seeing 10 times more crap on Vimeo than we already do, but I am happy to see an outlet for creatives to affordably shoot great images, which will hopefully spark an interest to become better storytellers.
Canon 550D Sample Video: